Generally speaking, a recreational vehicle is any type of vehicle that has a living space, such as a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping area, etc. Recreational vehicles typically are classified in one of two different categories—motorhomes and towables. Motorhomes have an engine and integral driver compartment and therefore can be driven under their own power, while a towable must be coupled to and towed behind a driven vehicle for travelling from place to place.
A variety of recreational vehicles, including motorhomes and towables, are known that have a room or room portion that can be moved from a retracted position while the vehicle is being driven to an extended position when the vehicle is stationary to provide additional internal space. Such expandable rooms are commonly referred to as slide-rooms, slide-outs, slide-houses, slide-boxes, and tip-outs. A slide-room usually includes a floor, a roof, an external end wall (also referred to as a “face” or “face wall”) (typically generally parallel to the vehicle side wall), an open (or openable) interior end wall, and one or more side walls (typically generally perpendicular to the vehicle side wall). These components are typically made of frame members and wall panels. In the retracted position, the roof, floor and side walls are typically concealed from exterior view and the room exterior end wall forms a portion of the vehicle side wall.
Various mechanisms are known for moving a slide-room between its expanded and retracted positions. A slide-room typically has an electric motor operatively coupled to a set of gears, cables, chains, and/or hydraulic arms configured to move the slide-room from its retracted position to its expanded position, and vice versa. A slide-room typically slides on a low-friction surface, such as UHMW, or if the slide-room is particularly heavy, it can ride on a set of rollers as it moves between its expanded and retracted positions.
Referring to FIG. 1A, the traditional method of constructing a slide-room includes separately forming the five main components (also referred to as panels) of the slide-room (the end wall 10, two side walls 12, the floor 14, and the roof 16). Thereafter, the main components are secured to each other using mechanical fasteners such as bolts and screws to form a box-like structure as depicted in FIG. 1B. Each main panel typically comprises an outer skin formed from fiberglass or aluminum, an insulating layer (e.g., Styrofoam) glued to the outer skin, and an inner layer of plywood glued to the insulating layer opposite the outer skin. Embedded within the insulating layer are aluminum or steel reinforcing members that receive the bolts or other fasteners used for securing the main panels to each other.
After the box is assembled, exterior flanges 18, usually formed from extruded aluminum, are screwed or riveted around the outside edge of the slide-room, as depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Brackets or channeling 20 typically are secured to the outer corners formed by the intersection of the side walls with the floor and the ceiling, as depicted in FIG. 2C. FIG. 3A shows a prior art exterior flange in the form of a T-shaped bracket 22 that is secured to the outside edge of a slide-room. FIG. 3B shows another prior art exterior flange in the form of an L-shaped bracket 26 that mounts behind skin portion 28 and capped off with U-shaped channel member 30. Skin portion 28 is part of end wall 10 that extends beyond side wall 12. After all of the components of the slide-room are assembled, the joints between all adjoining components must be carefully caulked with a sealant to minimize leakage.
In a typical prior art slide-room configuration, the vehicle body is formed with a main opening sized to receive the side walls 12, floor 14 and roof 16 of the slide-room, and an optionally a recessed portion surrounding the main opening for receiving the exterior flange to form what is referred to as a flush-mounted slide-room. FIG. 4, for example, schematically shows the installation of a slide-room having the flange configuration shown in FIG. 3A. FIG. 4 shows a vehicle body 50 having a main opening 52, and an exterior surface 54 surrounding the main opening. As shown, the body of the slide-room extends inwardly through the main opening 52 and the exterior flange 22 is positioned to contact the exterior surface 54 when the slide-room is in its retracted position. FIG. 5 shows the installation of a slide-room having the flange configuration shown in FIG. 3B. In this installation, the vehicle body 50 has a recessed portion 56 surrounding the main opening 52. The flange (formed by skin portion 28, bracket 26, and channel member 30) is received in the recessed portion 56 when the slide-room is in its retracted position. During assembly and installation of the slide-room, the channel member 30 is adjusted to minimize the gap g between the edge of the flange and the side surface 58 of the recessed portion 56.
The prior art slide-room configurations suffer from many disadvantages. A major problem of known slide-room configurations is that they are extremely susceptible to water leakage through the joints between adjacent panel members that form the slide room and through the spaces between the slide-room and the vehicle opening. Warranty costs of RV manufacturers to repair water damage caused by faulty slide-room designs can be significant.
In order to minimize leaks in the area between the slide-room and the vehicle opening, manufactures have provided a sweeper seal around the edge of the vehicle opening to sweep off water on the slide-room as it is retracted into the vehicle. The problem with this technique is that the channel members and/or molding placed along the joints of the slide-room (e.g., channel members 20 in FIG. 2C) create high spots along the outer surface of the slide-room that prevent the sweeper seal from making complete contact with the slide-room. RV manufacturers also place rubber flange seals on the rear surface of the exterior flange 18 to minimize leakage between the exterior flange and the abutting surface of the vehicle when the slide-room is in its retracted position. Unfortunately, the performance of the flange seals is reduced because gaps or surface irregularities along the surface of flange can prevent the flange from making full contact with the seal. Water leakage is such a significant problem within the RV industry that some manufactures provide modified rain gutters along the lower longitudinal edges of the sides of the slide-room to collect rainwater and direct it outwardly through the vehicle opening.
Another significant problem of known slide-room configurations is that conventional techniques for molding the individual walls that make up the slide-room introduce significant manufacturing variances between different components. As a result, it is often difficult to assemble a slide-room that is completely plumb and fits easily into the vehicle opening. To address this problem, RV manufacturers typically oversize the vehicle opening 52 and recessed area 56 (FIG. 4) to allow the slide-room to be installed in the vehicle. Unfortunately, this introduces additional paths for water to leak into the vehicle and detracts from the overall aesthetics of the vehicle because there is an obvious gap between the face of the slide-room and the adjacent surrounding surface of the vehicle.
As can be appreciated, there exists a strong need for a new and improved slide-room and methods for its manufacture.